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I was a little worried that this was going to be a let down - I saw ABC back in the day and was pretty impressed. I'd seen Martin Fry on tv a couple of times since being interviewed and (as we all have) he was showing the passage of time. Anyway, I took the plunge and bought two tickets (£45 a throw!
) and went along - I am SO glad I did!
The audience was primarily 50 + with a smattering of younger people.
The South Bank Sinfonia took to the stage first and treated us to
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eigZwwIZHk
They were conducted by Anne Dudley, who did the original orchestration of "Lexicon of Love" and went on to be a core member of The Art of Noise, win an academy award for the musical score of The Full Monty and was music producer for the film version of Les Miserables.
Martin Fry then took to the stage with the latest incarnation of ABC. He looked extremely fit and healthy and was extremely sharply dressed - dark suit, white shirt, slim tie, shiny shoes and most importantly his voice sounded FANTASTIC!
The first half of the show was a pot pourri of ABC hits ("When Smokey Sings", "How to be a Zillionnaire," "Tears are not Enough" etc) plus a couple of very good new tracks.
The sound in Symphony Hall was amazing as you would expect.
The second half delivered what the pretty much sold out Hall was waiting for - a performance of "Lexicon of Love" in it's entirety. The audience took to it's feet and danced throughout, joining in particularly with "The Look of Love" and "Poison Arrow" but fortunately Martin did NOT do that thing I hate where the singer holds the microphone out to the audience to sing the refrain.
After an encore of "The Look of Love", a thoroughly satisfied ABC audience went home very happy.
) and went along - I am SO glad I did!The audience was primarily 50 + with a smattering of younger people.
The South Bank Sinfonia took to the stage first and treated us to
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eigZwwIZHk
They were conducted by Anne Dudley, who did the original orchestration of "Lexicon of Love" and went on to be a core member of The Art of Noise, win an academy award for the musical score of The Full Monty and was music producer for the film version of Les Miserables.
Martin Fry then took to the stage with the latest incarnation of ABC. He looked extremely fit and healthy and was extremely sharply dressed - dark suit, white shirt, slim tie, shiny shoes and most importantly his voice sounded FANTASTIC!
The first half of the show was a pot pourri of ABC hits ("When Smokey Sings", "How to be a Zillionnaire," "Tears are not Enough" etc) plus a couple of very good new tracks.
The sound in Symphony Hall was amazing as you would expect.
The second half delivered what the pretty much sold out Hall was waiting for - a performance of "Lexicon of Love" in it's entirety. The audience took to it's feet and danced throughout, joining in particularly with "The Look of Love" and "Poison Arrow" but fortunately Martin did NOT do that thing I hate where the singer holds the microphone out to the audience to sing the refrain.
After an encore of "The Look of Love", a thoroughly satisfied ABC audience went home very happy.
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